Bt-(Bacillus thuringiensis) is a gram positive, soil dwelling bacteria. Many crops these days are being bred with Bt to be pest resistant. I had a struggle for a few years with wanting to use it, but got sick of losing my tomatoes to hornworms and my kale to cabbage loopers--little forkers!

Cheapest product out there to get it is called Safer Caterpillar Killer. A little bottle of concentrate retails for about $8-12, and will last you a few gardening seasons. Mix the concentrate in a spray bottle with water and apply early in the a.m. or at dusk.

Of course, you can buy it from me at Worm's Way: 1-800-274-worm. You'll get a better shipping price if you call. Ask for Jen. If I'm not here-(I work M-F 9-2:15) just tell Clint or Levi that you're from the PPK gardening forum.

Update: I was talking with one of my colleagues about blossom end rot this summer and he told me about an article that he read that excessive heat causes the plant to not use the Ca/Mg efficiently and will lead to BER. I just thought I would bring this up because it seems like many people are struggling with this issue this gardening season. High temps=BER makes sense, I just had never made that connection myself.

I picked (and ate) my 1st two red merlot grape tomatoes last night. There are a couple more that will be red in the next few days, and a lot of green ones. (I still have to upload the pics)

Unfortunately, it definitely has late blight (or septoria, whatever it is that makes the leaves turn yellow and brown). It is progressing quickly up the plant. So much for totallytomatoes.com saying it was blight resistant!

At least on the upside, the mountain magic tomato plant right next to it really does seem resistant, and only has a touch of yellow on a leaf or two so far. I think my 1st tomato from this plant will be ready for harvest early next week.

_________________I'm not asking for utopian dreams...just a little peace in this world. That's a logical thing. - Deee-Lite

So I never found that Bt stuff, and then I found a shitload of forking snails on one of my plants. The stake broke on this one, and despite my best efforts to split it, it's pretty low to the ground so snails are like, "fork yeah, slimin' up your tomatoes!" The other one that is getting tomatoes eaten off of doesn't appear to be slimy, but what do I know.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I hand picked them off, my father-in-law has some cheap beer that he drinks at the rate of one bottle every three months, so he won't mind if some goes missing.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

Did you treat the soil or foliage with actinovate, or did that not work for you? I'm pretty much sold on growing my stuff in containers.

Stopped by and discovered the plant that I thought was a gold medal tomato was actually a brandywine. I picked a HUGE fruit that had not completely ripened because it was weighing the plant down. I harvested two striped romas that covered the entire span of my hand-(my hands are tiny, but that's still a big assed tomato).Will post pics tonight or tomorrow.

For this being a wacky summer in IN, and relocating all of my containers I'm getting decent results. I am having split fruit issues from the hot dry conditions. Next year I'm either going to amend my medium with soil moist or get a drip system on a timer so the watering is consistent.

I sliced the brandywine for sammies this weekend and used the romas for a lasagna. I thought the romas might be watery because they were so huge, but they were both incredibly fleshy with super bright red color. They were divine!

I shouldn't have taken this photo with an angle favoring my hand here, but it was so bright I couldn't see what I was taking a photo of. So anyhow, here is a tomato that is bigger than my fist, and still growing!